


Spectator: Yukawa's Play and Utsumi's Gaze

by VesperRegina



Category: Galileo (TV Japan)
Genre: Community: cottoncandy_bingo, F/M, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2019-11-14 01:39:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18043025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VesperRegina/pseuds/VesperRegina
Summary: Four scenes in which Yukawa plays sports, Utsumi watches, and what it means. Picspam and meta.





	Spectator: Yukawa's Play and Utsumi's Gaze

**Author's Note:**

> I've formatted these picture sets like I would have for sharing on Tumblr, but I've coded them as tables, twelve pictures to each set, with larger resolutions available upon clicking an individual picture. They have alt text. (I am also sharing the picspam sets on Tumblr, but in an altered form, and with some additional tag commentary.) This is a prompt fill for 'sports' on my Cotton Candy Bingo card. I've had this essay on my list to write for years, though I'm not sure if I'm saying everything I wanted to say, still, as this is an expanded attempt. ([I previously mentioned the core concept of this meta in commentary on the second episode.](http://actiaslunaris.tumblr.com/post/66283545187/im-continuing-to-watch-galileo-from-the))

I've been watching the first season of this show, _Galileo_ , at least once a year since it first aired. I remember watching these four scenes -- in which Yukawa Manabu plays various sports, which Utsumi Kaoru then interrupts to solicit his advice on her investigations -- with fascination. They were unlike anything I'd seen before, and I've spent countless hours contemplating their function within the narrative of the show. I believe that they serve several: they are a subversion of male gaze; they invite us to view the character of Yukawa through the lens of Utsumi's view of him; they are thematic points in the larger whole of the plots; and they serve as character development, separately for both Utsumi and Yukawa, and together as a pair.

I have chosen to focus on these four scenes, only, even though it betrays a bias. These four are taken from the first season: episodes two, three, five, and seven. Yukawa has at least three other scenes, apart from these in the first season, in which he displays his sportsmanship. In those scenes, they are used to communicate his authority over a skill that not many have (as he's well-nigh portrayed as a character who can do anything) or to communicate something about his emotional growth. In those cases they are just as much fun to watch, but in the context of the first season only, which details his first engagement with a woman who doesn't accept him on his merits only, with whom he has to contend for her respect of him in all aspects, these scenes of play -- even though from his perspective he never notices how his play affects her -- underscore how she does begin to respect him. So yes, my bias is shippy.

To speak with tropes, I thought at first that these scenes were a subversion of Male Gaze, and to some extent, they are. Leading from that trope, however, gives a more specific example of Eating the Eye Candy. Male gaze is defined as a standard of media communication that overtly objectifies women. Eating the Eye Candy, as is stated on TV Tropes, is an example of media communication that focuses on a woman's enjoyment of another person's body. I won't link to TV Tropes for the sake of your sanity, but searching there with those titles will take you to the entries.

In context, though the main character is Yukawa Manabu, the viewpoint character is Utsumi Kaoru. I've seen many shows that feature male viewpoint characters, with fewer viewpoint characters being female, and while shows from Japan will sometimes feature viewpoint characters that are male, in shows that feature a male and female as partners, the woman is given the narrative task of being the audience's eyes and the medium through which we understand the man.

Yukawa Manabu is normally introduced as inaccessible: a genius physicist who usually wears a three-piece suit, sometimes covered with a lab coat. (This gradually changes throughout the show's run since, as his character develops, his wardrobe tends to mirror the growing state of his accessibility.) Even his speech is somewhat distancing, since he's prone to monologues about facts that are interesting, but go overlong -- picture Data from the first season of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_.

To Utsumi Kaoru, the first time she sees him playing squash, without the wardrobe she's accustomed to seeing him in and engaged in activity instead of spouting facts, her entire understanding of him is overthrown, leaving her speechless and stuttering. The camera lingers on Yukawa, in constant movement, capturing fluidity and preciseness, inviting us to view him as Utsumi does. Utsumi, flabbergasted, stands aside with wide eyes. She had Yukawa pigeon-holed, and he's suddenly broken free. The camera focuses on her in turn, revealing just how seeing Yukawa has affected her physically, since she tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve. Yukawa, on the other hand, seems unaware of her reaction, which is in part deliberate: he doesn't want to get involved in her investigations. Even though he noticed her as he played, he avoids looking at her as he exits the court. I'll compare more aspects from this scene later on, with the last scene in which he plays a sport -- boxing, in that case.

 

[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa01.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa02.png)  
---|---  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa03.png) |  [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa04.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa05.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa06.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa07.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa08.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa09.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa10.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa11.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoa12.png)  
  
>   
>  _You were watching?_ \- Yukawa Manabu - "Floats"

The second time we see Yukawa play sports, he's climbing a constructed rock wall. We learn that he's attempted to climb this particular wall before, but has failed. Utsumi sees him fall, and fears for his life as she's unaware that the rope will catch him. Before he falls, she is shown to be captivated by him, less surprised by his ability than before, allowing herself to be drawn into admiration of him, until she's shocked out of it by her fear. That fear is what surprises her in this scene -- that she cared what would happen to him, when before she would have denied having that depth of feeling. Beyond the fascination she displays in watching him try to scale the wall and the dexterity that's plainly obvious to us and her, the scene is thematically important to the plot of the episode itself, as Utsumi faces a case that personally tests her devotion to her work. In the scene, Yukawa gets in the last word; by the end of the episode, his own words have been turned back on him, having developed meaning concerning how he relates to Utsumi.

 

 

[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob01.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob02.png)  
---|---  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob03.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob04.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob05.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob06.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob07.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob08.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob09.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob10.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob11.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspob12.png)  
  
>   
>  _So in the end, it's still for yourself?_ \- Utsumi Kaoru - "Rattles"

 

In the third scene, Yukawa is shown target shooting, with a bow and arrow. He's been, contrary to his stated disinterest, attempting to tutor a student so that the student will regain his concentration. This is more subtle character development, as it carries over consequences from episode three. Utsumi is, by now, somewhat accustomed to how Yukawa never seems to fail (and apart from the previous occasion, indeed, he hits the target here). She accepts that this is yet another skill he has, and is more interested in reporting the information that she gathered during her investigation, but the activity turns out to be more integral to the case than either of them were suspecting. The exchange of information in the scene seems to have little to do with their relationship, but the subtle importance of it can be found in how the scene plays out, with Utsumi remembering a vital clue, which then is given meaning by Yukawa's knowledge. It's a case of their individual focuses finding a vertex in which they join; a metaphor for how much they have accomplished in understanding each other.

 

[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc01.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc02.png)  
---|---  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc03.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc04.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc05.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc06.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc07.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc08.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc09.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc10.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc11.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspoc12.png)  
  
>   
>  _No, you get the credit for solving the case this time._ \- Yukawa Manabu - "Strangles"

The fourth, and last scene for the purposes of this picspam, is almost a direct mirror of the first scene. Again, Utsumi approaches Yukawa's area of play, but this time, instead of showing dismay, she lets her blatant admiration show on her face, as she gazes at Yukawa boxing. Her expression is nothing less than starry-eyed, like someone with a crush, obvious attraction written in her soft smile. When the bell is rung, signalling the end of the practice, she snaps out of it, and she's upset with herself for being so obvious. She attempts to disguise her reaction, ashamed of herself, unlike when she saw him playing squash, because now she's become accidentally invested. Yukawa notices her, just as he did when he was playing squash, but unlike then, he doesn't reject her presence. Like then, he explains what he finds relevant to his self about the sport, and like then Utsumi cuts him off. Unlike then, however, he's visibly disappointed. Subtextually, this is presentation and rejection, with the undercurrent being yet another misunderstanding in a string of misunderstandings -- their interactions have friction still in this area. It's fascinating to watch these two scenes together and compare how differently Yukawa and Utsumi relate to one another, after the amount of time they've spent interacting. Utsumi's denial of her attraction to Yukawa still colors much of their interactions, even after they've spent hours learning to accept each other on a more intellectual level.

 

[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod01.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod02.png)  
---|---  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod03.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod04.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod05.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod06.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod07.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod08.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod09.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod10.png)  
[](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod11.png) | [](http://www.vespertanmer.com/picspam/yuspod12.png)  
  
>   
>  _Looks fun._ \- Utsumi Kaoru - "Knows"

Thematically, every one of these scenes adds layers of meaning to the individual episode, and to the first season as a whole, through importance to the plot or to characterization. Individually, the progression through these scenes portray Yukawa as an all-around sportsman, yet another facet to his character. Taken together, they reveal that Utsumi changes her perception of him as inaccessible to accessible, even if she still has private reservations. They reveal Yukawa as a man, as a sexual object to Utsumi, something she'd never considered before until seeing Yukawa play sports. It shows the slow, but only hinted at, physical chemistry of how Utsumi reacts to Yukawa, and how Yukawa reacts to Utsumi, under-pinning long conversations between them with something that is charged with a different kind of tension. He is captivated by her intellectually, while she is captivated by him physically.

Because the direction focuses in an overt manner on Yukawa as he plays, on the various parts of his body that are engaged in movement, meta-textually it subverts the male gaze. In objectifying Yukawa, the camera forces both men and women to view Yukawa in a manner that sets off his body as an object of admiration. It says that it is beautiful, that it is sexual, that it is worthy of looking at and in full. It's refreshing to see, and that is why it subverts the male gaze and gives us, in these four scenes, four good examples of female gaze: the form of media communication that does the opposite of male gaze. Like Utsumi, we 'eat' the 'eye candy,' just as enthralled, but this is not empty sugar, though I can certainly appreciate it just as is: it is in addition to an already balanced presentation of character development and intellectual discourse -- something truly unique in how play and gaze are used to further the over-arching development of the relationship between the leads.


End file.
